Lakeside
by PersonaOfBetrayal
Summary: Extension to Chapter 5 of Cherish Redux; a more detailed account of Tidus and Yuna's escape to Macalania. (Updated to add more content.)


"You remembered."

Yuna began meekly, stirring Tidus from his daze. Kneeling down beside him, wandering eyes were eventually drawn to her lover's face- a beholding sight snatched away from her for two weeks. A content breath escaped her lips, lifting them up into a warm curl;

' _Two years ago this very spot was where we confirmed our love for each other._ _Everything changed here. I found out how special it is to love - to be loved.'_

"I see why you came here back then. Somethin' about this place you can really begin to sort your thoughts out. I guess- it's me that has a lot to sort out this time?"

He ended with a slight chuckle, slowly turning around to face her head-on. Yuna studied his form intently; germinating within her was a temptation to leave curious pupils lingering on his **golden** skin- which popped out mischievously against black robes, crinkled around his arms.

Instead, out of respect (which she was always expected to have - lest she herself forget) she reached for his shoulder, lithe fingers stealing the familiar essence she so often craved in cold evenings like these.

"I know how you feel," she replied quietly, losing eye contact once again, "and you know you don't have to face it a-"

Banished was the heat that was creeping up her face; underneath his dark tan the shadows of Tidus' welts and bruises were shown - plain for her to see for the first time.

"W-who did this to you?" she asked, anger stalking her voice.

"Eh… it was nothin', really. Some punk had some fun an' games with me."

"Who?!" Yuna seethed in an outrage.

"It was… it began with a 'Yai' for sure."

"No... Yaibal?"

"Nevertheless," Tidus mumbled with a shrug, his hand covering up a purple splotch on his neck through a sentience of its own, "wouldn't _shut up_ either."

"So that's definitely him then..."

"Ah, so you know him?"

"We met one time, just a few months ago. He was…" Yuna held back a tirade, clenching her fists until the muscles began to strain, "...eager to get me to join the Youth League. I think he's an admirer."

He gave her a sleepy nod, golden hairs - bleached radiant by the setting sun - bouncing freely along his brow. But the ocean in his eyes, which would never fail to give her a surge in any situation, were darkened; quietened; _lost_.

It wasn't the first time she'd seen him like this, but it would always break her heart time and time again. Tonight he needed to put this turmoil behind him- reach out for some sort of _comfort_.

But...

' _I don't get it! Why… where has my voice gone? What's this weird feeling I'm having? The longer he_ _ **looks at me**_ … _?!_

 _Yuna! There's a time and place for sorting yourself out, and this is neither!_ '

"You know, the worst part wasn't him beating me up. He just went on and on about what a 'pure soul' you used to be, and how I was the worst type of evil for _daring_ to corrupt you."

"I-"

' _ **He's not wrong, Yuna.**_ '

...When her mind caught up with her mouth; "I could never picture him saying such things!"

' _I swear to the fayth below..._ '

"No kidding, it doesn't fit that voice of his." A choked laugh, powerless as the wind. "I'd actually find it pretty funny- if he wasn't a kid."

"Mm… Nooj has quite the way with words."

"Yeah…"

Akin to a bird's nature she curled up against him, chasing away a chill she didn't realize she had developed. Forlorn pairs of eyes gazed out onto the fading memoirs of their special spot- together.

Despite the woods fading into but a remnant of its majesty, the ghosts of that quiet yet fantastical night drifted between them, haunting them through memories and coincidental touches. But the longer they lingered and lumbered - growing ( **and growing** _)_ \- Yuna felt like-

"A-agh!"

Caught up in such silly fantasies, she remained oblivious to the stoic gurn on his face until it was too late to make amends; she shuffled closer and held him steadily; gently; slowly... easing him into a flat position.

"How much does it hurt?" Yuna questioned lowly, narrowing her attention to a particularly messy welt infecting the centre of Tidus' chest. The state of it - the _thought_ of it - made her sick to her stomach.

"Just a little…" His strained body language gave him away, "I-I've been through worse."

"Tidus…"

As if responding to his stifled cries for help, warm healing magic started to trickle from her fingertips. Underneath straight lips she tightened her jaw, looking over his length for the _third_ time.

Although the premonition of defeat quickly ebbed away at her will- having gotten quite rusty from relying on potions the last few months, she pushed on regardless, wanting - _needing_ \- to help him forget.

She knew what she had to do, but yet another worry of hers stalled time… would he welcome that sort of touch? Would he take it the wrong way?

' _You can't be serious. Right now? When_ _ **he needs you**_ _more than ever?_

Stubborn enough to not risk _third_ thoughts, Yuna flexed her joints to get the magic flowing more freely. She wanted to give Tidus a trustworthy smile but- when she looked down, something about him _changed_.

She could see everything from up here: the calm yet brimming smirk on his face, the blond bushels splayed out boyishly against the ground, and his- torso. **Sprawled out- arching, pulsing, waiting**.

' _ **Yevon Almighty**_ _..._

 _STOP IT! Do I need to dunk my head in the water to shut you up?!_ '

Refusing to waste her energy on herself, she began to distribute the magic very lightly across Tidus' skin- an unexplored terrain which kept inviting the persistences into her mind at a _worrying_ rate. She filtered out each one as they came- desperately trying to focus on the task at hand, her cheeks deepening into an oblivious vermillion.

Before long, all of the nicks and cuts had gone without a trace. Now it was time to mend his nastier scars. However to mend such deep-cut inflictions, she would have to apply some external force. And Yevon should know- she didn't want to put a damper on his trust.

But there were **other** ways to channel white magic...

Suddenly Tidus' body contracted. Her hand accidentally met his **smooth** **build** , launching a hot _surge_ through her - meeting a baffled expression, yet a smile all the same as he rubbed in the warm tingles she left behind...

' _Wait_...'

At the same time a visible rush of red flew up to the middle of her face; in spite of already knowing that it was a meaningless effort, she willed herself to disguise it regardless- stumbling and scolding herself for her behaviour.

"Yuna?"

"I'm sorry!" she blurted out, appalled with herself, "I- went too low! I should have looked where I was going!"

"Are you..." he paused, dimples slowly swirling into his cheeks, "...distracted?"

Sheepishly she tucked her head away, unable to find the gall to lie to him.

Tidus merely cocked his own head. Fleece was shuffling from his left side with grainy _swips_. When she perked up and gasped it was already too late; his hand slid over hers, contrasts joining and melting into his chest with a confident strength.

Above all else, her Tidus was still keen on playing naughty games. But she certainly wasn't complaining-

"You're so easy, Yuna."

-now that the welt had dissipated completely.

"A-and whose fault is that?" A bemused noise hit the air with a spat- _rude_ , but she really couldn't help herself.

"C'mon, it's nothin' to be ashamed of! At least... when it's you."

" _Why_ am I not surprised?"

He tended to her overworked hand with a little squeeze, his smile wobbling between a small crook and a pucker. With a craned eyebrow and pleased twinkles upon glossy lips, a fingernail snuck up and softly started flicking at the base of his neck;

' _You can thank your flattery for this…_ '

"You know," Tidus started, struggling to keep a coherent sentence, "you've gotten sassier since the pilgrimage."

"T-that's not a bad thing!" Yuna _hitched_ defensively at his banter, "...Is it?"

"Not at all!" he insisted genuinely, propping himself up a little bit more- topped off with a visible nibble to his lower lip. "I love seeing you enjoying yourself."

A cutthroat squeak left her upon hearing him utter such a _rare_ word, following up with a wild squirt of magic to his bruised nape.

' _ **That sound he made**_ … _!_ '

"Don't suppose I struck a nerve?" he quipped earnestly in recovery and laughter.

"All right, smart-alec…" Yuna started with a sly stall in her pace, reaching out to bop the end of his nose- "No more _misbehaving_ , okay? I have to concentrate."

Tidus humbly humoured her with a toothy grin and fell static. After taking a moment to piece together her train of thought - no thanks to his antics - she traced the creases of his other sleeve and, upon feeling no resistance, began to peel it off-

-revealing ghastly spotted print. Tentatively he offered his bad arm to her ( _his sword arm,_ she realised in horror), finding herself grateful for her lightweight grasp- for without which he would be forced to relive the last fortnight.

They had no other choice but to stand to that heart-wrenching ordeal: _he'd_ been trapped in agony for all that time, _she_ and her friends had been treated as nothing more than fiends- all with _nobody_ intelligent enough to question what their oh-so-righteous _Meyvn_ commanded of them.

Wracking emotions began to boil over into reality- the images of the beige-green streaks gliding across his skin blurred into a watery splotch;

' _Nooj will pay for all he's done_. _For using us. Betraying Spira's_ _trust_. _Hurting him_.'

But for all the worth she had in this society, she couldn't even save her own lover from a simple misunderstanding- on their own turf, no less.

How much power did she _really_ have?

A stranger of Spira trying to expose such heinous practises - to face up to the Youth League giants with no feet of his own - would only brand him a pitiful cretin. An object of ridicule to some… and a target to others.

Masculine murmurs managed to quell the war in her head- tilting upwards to greet the fuzzy conjure of Tidus' face, which upon harboured unconditional sympathy;

"It's okay, Yuna."

' _He_ …'

"I… I cried too."

Pairs of hands instinctively paralleled to grip each other's. Mimicking the wonderful curl in his lips, she slinked forward and into his musk, influenced just simply by his outward display.

"It's all right," she cooed into his proximity with brazen assurance. "I'm here."

Something happened then- when he bravely - unexpectedly - captured her humid lips with his. Feathery gusts of breath floated from her tongue once he parted, discovering that beneath a sun-kissed veil, he too was blushing.

And tearing up, perhaps?

"Yuna?"

"Tidus?" defaulting to adoration- after remembering to take a breath.

He must have said her name a surreal amount of times tonight, but she would never tire of the way he did so. Not when she had lost him for what she feared was eternity.

And then almost yet again.

When words failed Tidus, he remedied that by shifting them both towards the tree- statued not-at-all-far from the bank; 'twas as wizened and graceful as the first time she had discovered its refuge- in her _own_ time of need:

Two years ago, in the wake of inept footprints only given direction by the greatest of chance, she thought that confessing her doubts to the non-sentient perch of roots and firelight would unlock some sort of wisdom within her.

Perhaps it was because, as mad as it sounded in hindsight, trees couldn't judge. For as close to family as her circle of guardians was (and still is), she couldn't read their minds; for all she could have known back then, they could have been ashamed to have sworn allegiance to such an _imbecile_.

Despite oaths of lifetime devotion to the pilgrimage, all it took was the 'harsh truth' to disillusion her- to _think_ of abandoning the people of Spira out of sheer pettiness, and for her own selfish needs. For the first time since her childhood, her walls were beginning to crumble.

But the stars dotted upon a bleak void delivered an _unordinary_ answer.

It didn't dawn on Yuna immediately why the man from Zanarkand was humming to himself- ironing out his velvet robes along the ground, but until - slowly - she was gathered into the familiarity of his homely arms, a wholesome heat breezing across the inlines of her cheeks.

Slowly Tidus cast his head down, his intense pairs of irises magnetising to hers- frozen within quivering glass and highlighted by drops of amber.

' _Shy..._ ' she assumed warmly, melting with his handsome **allure**.

She reached up to cup the thickest, comfiest parts of his tufts, eventually coming to roost on the base of his sleek neck- mindlessly toying with unkempt strays.

It _delighted_ her to feel him shiver with the offset of her tips.

Just a tick later, she sensed two of Tidus' own tips looping the ribbon behind her dress, nudging a tiny gap between the sewing. They slithered inside and homed in on the pressure points in her shoulders, circling 'round and around in circles- massaging and warping the sensitive cream.

Her response was a _chirp_ , her lower self _twitching_ against his curvature, cosying up to his core- to ward off the blunt cold from where her dress couldn't cover.

His deftness slipped down her back with the gradual shift in gravity, pulling away from her skin and relocating on the bunched material below. He hunched forward to place her at a steeper angle, after which his muscles slipped under and enveloped her padded back, pulling them together into a cocoon.

Unanimously the juxtaposed lovebirds nuzzled their noses against one-another, both breaking out into plump, bubbling smiles- chapped lips barely grazing the other's face.

Taking a deep breath, he gently lowered himself- and collected Yuna, cradling her comfortably from behind. At first she didn't know why (or _any_ of what he did for that matter), but regardless was unmindful of his spur-of-the-moment ways-

-especially when they involved scooting them over to the lakeside, tugging off her boots to give her feet some much needed release in the ripples, and weaving her fringe into spirals.

She was more than used to them and, after all, the opportunity to keep listening to the healthy _pumps_ of his heart - syncing with her own untamed pulse - was certainly romantic…

"I'm so lucky to have you," Tidus whispered.

"M-me too…" she responded foolishly, staring out into space.

...but deep down, she wanted another dose of that physicality.

Her nervous breaths had steeled into sharp utterances upon his lobe; the steam coming off his words stifled her- mesmerised her… _overwhelmed_ her with emotions (of which **some** she had never felt before).

When her eyes fluttered open, gone was the single-tone makeup of Tidus' features- a compliment that made him such an easy, joyous read. Usurping it was a dusky, _sultry_ veil- subterfuge of his that she had only seen one other time, as an irreplaceable highlight of their traitor-past:

Jaded by the ire of soulless claps and tuneless wedding chimes, all the resolve the church stripped away from her that day - she nearly believed was a fabrication instilled in the _failure_ that they convinced her to be - was rekindled in this very forest parting.

She had tasted a requited love for the first time.

Even as a precarious young mind, she had been blown away by how the girth of his hands molded into her own so perfectly, always catching her when the water current - much like the rest of the world - seemed dead-set on tearing them apart.

By the apex of the Eternal Calm, when she had broken out of her shell to run free with her emotions, a deep regret she held was that she never got to see them in the nude. She held a deep curiosity for their wonder, and she had always yearned to unravel the mysteries underneath the gloves…

...not only was she now relieved of that, but she was now fully aware of their other **talents**.

Reality was now just an afterthought for Yuna- pushed to the back of her subconscious by the tepid weight resting on her small stomach, gently grasping it - pulling it up - so she could witness such _skill_ up close.

She began to tinker with the points of the index- at first nothing more than a study on how they operated, but with time bringing them closer and blessing them with the moist curl of her tongue, savouring the tinge of brine on the bronzed skin. She continued upwards in a linear motion, rubbing the tip along the spongy folds of her lips.

She took light hold of his wrist and carefully started to tow the damp ends across her cheek, down her neck and over her rounded profile- leaning backwards onto his shoulder with a huff, greedily _sapping_ the phenomenal heat from him…

...and as he lapped at her lips with a lengthy passion, she fell enchanted- twisting sideways and stretching across his lap, shuddering when his hand - pressed atop her skin - dared to swerve lower by his own accord-

"Hey!" Yuna perked up instinctively, "I said no misbehaving!"

Tidus' maneuvers ceased frantically, scared that he'd done something wrong to her, but then whirring down into his charmingly dopey self once he caught that teasing smirk of hers;

"Ahh! Right, you did… well, do you want me to?"

Her heart jumped a beat. That was surprisingly to-the-point. And _suggestive_. Even _he_ must have realised that…

...because there was an all-too-knowing look about him, everything finally hit her.

' _He_ _ **wants**_ _this._ '

Already aching from the withdrawals, she took assertive action and spanned his cheek, picking up where his amazing lips (and tongue) left off.

In time their lock was broken due to uncontained joy, so in lieu of that she bopped the end of his nose again, finally giving him permission to 'misbehave.'

Of _course_ she **wanted** this too.

The knitted frills of her dress were undone with muted _plucks_ as the midriff, all the way down to the navel, was treated to a delicate, explorative touch. There was nothing she could do to suppress her breathless squirms and _jolts_ , now that she wasn't the one in control, but he needed the praise- and to keep letting him know how _good_ it felt.

She had never ventured to her virgin parts for the novelty since, as a summoner, the village priests forbade such filth. She had heard many a teenager swear up and down that it was normal, but to **experiment** in such a way was seen as a 'sinful indulgence.'

Yet these were not her hands, but **Tidus** ' hands invoking this wild pleasure.

And where he was concerned she paid no heed to right nor wrong. And _especially_ not to old cronies with façade etched into garish frowns who should just _mind their own_ _business_.

Acrobatic fingers slowly webbed down the white material from both sides, so very nearly revealing her supple shape to filtered light. Little by little the cask tightened, so that when his thumbs slithered up the shrivels, anticipating against where the layer budded-

" _Ah_ -! _Tidus_..."

-Yuna mewled - long and wobbly - her unabashed perversions _erupting_ from conceal.

For all she cared about was the way he looked at her - **touched** her - forsaking her grip on what the temples, damned as they were, call 'decency'.

And making her feel so **alive.**

Unable to resist him any longer, pigmented legs hiked up and tensed around his marbled form, hips crudely _**bucking**_ against her lover's as they tumbled to the ground. Again and again this occured- playfully wrestling with each other to get on top, their spirits _soaring_ with unifying laughter.

So when the golden flame came to pass, and all had calmed down into a peaceful intimacy, her slender grip on his neck loosened. It trailed all the way down his athletic arc and snuck around the loose-fit hem on his hips, shimmying just between the folds, and edging them down.

And as she drove him closer to the edge with her _personal_ touches, the only thing she knew was that her beautiful dream was here, above her - on these velvet robes by the lakeside - asking her in that **guttural** tone:

"Are you sure?"

...and she ended any further discussion with a deep, ferocious kiss.

* * *

Two years ago, Yuna had cast aside all the doctrines. She had then desperately sought after the confirmation and support she needed in her darkest hour, and finally discovered him- cycloned in the nurture of crystal fragments and under a moon so magnificently bright.

These were the telltale signs that love was blooming between her and a peculiar boy named Tidus: star player of the Zanarkand Abes; ragtag troublemaker; her best friend.

No level-headed guardian would have ever thought of having escapades with their summoner, for it would _surely_ be an ironic tragedy in the making. The guilt - the _agony_ \- would have driven them to insanity- and that was if they _weren't_ chosen to be the next catalyst to a never-ending spiral of death.

Like any other story, theirs was supposed to end at Zanarkand…

...and yet in the very spot where it all began, bareback bodies - coursing with **fireworks** \- romped in the midst of knee-high water, flared by the sun's sacrifice.

Crackling within her regions was a delectable _fire_ which _sweltered_ with every bristle to her ample breasts, pooling around his notable size, making her whole being _throb_ and _lose control_.

Overcome with resolve, healing magic seeped and trembled in their downward journey; every swipe was a corollary to his clumsy, gentle thrusts- trailing the path of his spine, driving him to respond in vocal and kinetic _honesty._

Hoisted limbs skidded against Tidus' width- drawing raw, electric friction from his soft outline. On the verge of nirvana, she blissfully panted out his name from the uplift of her teeth, rocketing herself forward- oily strands of hazel embossed against the pastels of the sky.

Tantalised by his _voluptuous_ acts of worship, Yuna _sang_ for only him.

Burying her head against his jaw, she relished in the heated, fuzzy afterglow brought upon by his tempoed ignitions. Foxy murmurs lapped at his ear- drinking in his husky noises and vibrating chest with sheer happiness.

… and when her magic began to temper him below-

"Oh my god, _Yuna_ …! _Holy_ -"

-that was it.

In that moment, there was nothing more musical to her than his dry heaves of _ecstasy_ \- nothing more _erotic_ than the faint force of his pinnacle within her. From helping him achieve such a growling, _arousing_ climax, riding atop her own purrs.

Fueled with raspy infatuation, she blessed her prince with searing-hot hormones, practically climbing over him and burying her face into ticklish nests of gold. A toned hand lightly clutched her gyrating tips, and together they consolidated where they had become one.

The world was blazing in her eyes.

' _ **Your eyes**_...'

Sewn lips danced together for a _countless_ time. Words needn't be spoken for as he swept her up into his serenity, skipping alongside the patterns of the lake, her featherweight spirit meandered within a dream-like solitude.

All was ambience.

"Never knew white magic could feel _that_ good."

Until _somebody_ had to ruin the mood.

"Well I didn't hear you protesting!"

"So you kept going."

It may have been relentless of her Tidus, but the way he accused her by, it was clear that he was admiring her deeds. Certainly it was his throaty voice, striking down her insecurities with vigour.

A discarded robe offered two tousled lovers a den, harmonising spent energy within a bundle- their toes barely skimming across crystalline warbles. As a cloaked moon peered through a spell of haze, the forest's chimes came back to life for one final melody.

"I…" she whimpered with a shaky smile, heartbeats roaring between them, "...you liked it. I wanted to, um… please you."

"Whoa… Yup, definitely loving _this_ side of you."

"I-I can use more than my hands, you know…"

Even with an eyebrow shooting up his head and a bewildering look about him, he dared to take it a step further:

"All right. Next time I'm seeing what a little Haste does."

"Guess we'd better stock up on Ethers, Sunshine," she mumbled a giggle into his chest, fidgeting fingers chewing up the robe.

To admit to him such a shockingly _raunchy_ act, and that she had given all of herself to him - to make love to him for the first time, in such a special place...

For a split second a small, sadistic part of her dabbled in 'what ifs:' he had never kissed her that night; had never confided so passionately his dreams to her; had never come looking for her in the first place...

' _Little did I know then but my fate changed forever. Spira's fate changed, right here in Macalania. All because_ _ **he loves me**_ _so…'_

"I meant it, you know."

"Mm…?"

"That I want us to be together, always," he whispered, picturing fondly the promise they made, in this very same place. "And now… do you still feel the same, Yuna?"

"Yes…" she anticipated with an audible tremble. "I-I do, very much so…"

"Then be my companion."

An implosion of heat.

"We'll always be together, right?" he repeated himself with the purest of smiles, a hand delicately tracing her face. "S-so, more than lovers. That makes sense, doesn't it?"

He must have taken her dazzled stupor for an answer, for his lips pulled themselves into a taper and waltzed over hers, planting sweetness onto parted pinks - draping them deeper into the privacy of the robe.

And much _like_ these two fateful nights, her hands linked with her companion's in response, entranced by depths so vividly blue and never letting go of each other.

The first of many vows to come in their new story.


End file.
